A 45-year-old man from summer capital Srinagar was among seven persons who died due to COVID19 across J&K on Saturday, while 455 people tested positive for the disease.
As per official data, five people, four of them from Srinagar became victims of COVID19 in Kashmir in the past 24 hours.
These included the 45-year-old man from Harwan, Srinagar who succumbed at SKIMS Soura, eight days after he was admitted to the hospital.
A doctor said the deceased was admitted with bilateral pneumonia and the test showed he was infected with SARS-COV2. “He was not suffering from any underlying illness,” the doctor said, adding the patient developed respiratory distress and passed away.
The patient’s death, he said, was a reminder that COVID could be fatal in any age group. “Young people can and have died of the disease, even while they are healthy otherwise. This latest death is one such example,” the doctor said.
The other casualties attributed to the viral illness in Kashmir were a 60-year-old woman from Karan Nagar, Srinagar, a 70-year-old man from Batamaloo, Srinagar, an 87-year-old woman from Hyderpora, Srinagar and an 80-year-old woman from Pulwama district of southern Kashmir.
The official data showed that two persons from Jammu lost life to the disease. On the other hand, 455 people were reported to be COVID19 positive from across J&K.
The case tally was lower than the average number of cases reported during the past week – around 550 each day. The data revealed that the drop in the number of cases has been due to the drop in the number of tests being carried out in J&K over the past 24 hours.
The cumulative tests of both the division (Rapid Antigen Tests and RT-PCR tests) ranges between 22,000 to 25,000. However, today, only 19,366 tests were reported. The positive percentage – positive reports out of the total tests conducted- remained unchanged and was 2.35.
In Kashmir, 7,219 RATs were carried out, which is less than the average 11,000 tests carried during other days of the week.
A senior health official said the drop in RAT tests was due to Friday being a holiday and Saturday also noting “some disturbances” in situation in Kashmir.
With 294 positives in Kashmir, the total number of cases reported till date here rose to 56,996, of which 4,559 are active cases. Of the total cases reported today, 60 cases were from Baramulla which has now 1,391 active cases.
The number of cases reported from other districts is: Kupwara (41), Budgam (21), Ganderbal (16), Anantnag (10), Bandipora (9), Pulwama (8), Kulgam (3) and Shopian (2). Jammu district reported 110 of the total 161 cases reported across the division. Meanwhile, 864 patients recovered from the viral infection today, taking the recovery percentage to 91.67.